Iron Shields
The Iron Shields are an 8th Founding Successor Chapter to the Iron Hands. Their Chapter Master is the veteran Mabius Hafoc. Unlike the Iron Hands they are a Codex Astartes adherent Chapter. They are most commonly used as a 'firefighting' formation, sent across the Segmentum Tempestus to counter Xenos threats. Homeworld Malverus is located in the Silvanus Sub-Sector in the Segmentum Tempestus. From the surviving Imperial records it is known that Malverus had been first settled by human colonists during the Great Crusade, a largely unassuming planet it was settled as an outpost, but was reclassified as a Civilised Planet not long after the cataclysm called the Horus Heresy. Its human history was unremarkable, and although whispers told of a staging area used by the Death Guard during the Crusade, it is thought that by the time of the Heresy the planet had been largely forgotten, one of many millions of worlds sending tithes to Terra. It was the site of the long war between the Iron Shields and the Biel-Tan Eldar who claimed the world as their Maiden planet Athuariel. The vast human populace that lived there Millenia ago has dwindled to their surviving descendants who toil to support the Iron Shields Chapter Monastery, the Basilica Ferrax. Malverus itself is largely dry world with standard temperature variations, much of the planet remains scarred from the devastation of war and in the great red plains are the ruins of great cities and fortifications now rarely glimpsed. It is rumoured among the ruins roam horrific mutations, feral Orks and even creatures of Chaos. Though the Chapter maintain their base on the planet, they have very little to do with the administration of the planet which remains under the Planetary Governor installed by the Imperium, nor do they recruit from the world's population preferring to separate themselves as much as possible. Timeline * M34 - Iron Shields Founded under legendary Chapter Master Carleman Forge and deployed to Segmentum Tempestus. * M35 - Iron Shields participate in the wars during the Nova Terra Interregnum. * C.400.M35 - Iron Shields recover an STC after a year long battle against Xenos culminating in a xenocide on Oriel V against the native species. The STC is found to be unusable. * 521.M35 - Battle Barge, The Purgation of Sin, carrying Carleman Forge lost in the warp. Hieron made Chapter Master and declares a decade of mourning for the lost Astartes. * C.600.M35 - Iron Shields join the Crusades in the Segmentum Tempestus. * 662.M35 - Chapter Master Hieron and one third of the Chapter wiped out by Waaagh! Gobshak. Verimund made Chapter Master. * 848.M35 - Verimund succumbs to his wounds fighting Eldar pirates. Vortegan becomes Chapter Master. * 030.M36 - Iron Shields fleet enters what will become the Silvanus Sub-Sector. * 031.M36 - Warp storms cut off the Iron Shields. * 032.M36 - The War for Malverus sees the Iron Shields decimate and conquer the planet against Eldar, Ork and Renegade resistance. * 035.M36 - Orks and Biel-Tan defeated at Malverus. Vortegan and Chief Librarian Silvanus killed along with the Eldar Ultharyon. Apostolion of the 3rd is interred in the relic Leviathan Dreadnought found on Malverus. Castor made Chapter Master. * C.060.M36 - Castor reforms the Chapter along the guidelines provided by the Codex Astartes. * 091.M36 - Warp storms around Silvanus end. * 105.M36 - Castor launches a Crusade against the Biel-Tan as vengeance for Malverus. * 229.M36 - Castor assassinated by Biel-Tan agents. Honorius made Chapter Master. * C.300.M36 - The Silvanus Crusade launched to pacify the rest of the Sub-Sector. * 547.M36 - Honorius falls against the Daemon Allagron but finishes it with his last blow. Theofilon made Chapter Master. * 338.M37 - Theofilon lost in the Warp, Caesarion made Chapter Master. * 391.M37 - Heresy infects the Kingdom of Sirium on Malverus. Captain Kyrios Astor leads the 4th Company to eliminate the heretics turning Sirium into a wasteland. Suspecting collusion Caesarion orders the execution of the planetary governor. * 587.M37 - Battle Barge, The Virtue of Hatred is overrun in battle by the Biel-Tan. Chapter Master Caesarion falls before elements of the Iron Shields fleet board the Battle Barge and drive the Eldar from his body. 1st Company Captain Elfrad is made Chapter Master. * 603.M37 - The 5th Company leads Astra Militarum forces in shattering Waaagh! Gorgra earning them the Honorific 'The Shields of Haxan' and recruitment rights in the system. * 678.M37 - The Administratum ratifies recruitment rights in the Haxan system. * 021.M38 - Chapter Master Elfrad destroys a Biel-Tan warfleet at Deception in a decisive victory. Honoured Veteran Hathrus is made Captain of the 1st Company. * C100.M38 - Iron Shields encounter and destroy a Zoat flotilla. * 482.M38 - The Silvanus Sector is assailed by a Word Bearers warband, the Iron Shields engage at multiple points and gradually force the Traitor forces back into the Warp. Captain Hathrus is interred in a Dreadnought Sarcophagus. * 484.M38 - Chapter Master Elfrad leads a pre-emptive strike against a second Word Bearers force but is killed in action. Captain Julius Spatha is chosen as Chapter Master. * 491.M38 - Chapter Master Julius Spatha disappears from records. * 492.M38 - A third Word Bearers force makes landfall and besieges the Basilica Ferrax. * 512.M40 - Chapter Master Helmfrid succeeds unknown Chapter Master. * 551.M41 - Captain Helmgar Thrax leads a demi-company of the 3rd against the Xenophiles of Terentia X. After his assassination by a suicide bomber, Veteran Sergeant Mabius Hafoc extracts the Company and orders an Exterminatus on the planet. * 672-990.M41 - Warp storms engulf the Segmentum Tempestus. * 777.M41 - Mabius Hafoc made Chapter Master after the death of Runhard at the hands of the Word Bearers. * 997.M41 - Hive Fleet Leviathan enters the Segmentum Tempestus. History The Founding The Iron Shields were part of the 8th Founding of chapters during the 35th Millenium. Their role was envisioned to be one of a mobile defensive force in the Segmentum Tempestus which had long been suffering Xenos incursions after The Howling had isolated thousands of Imperium worlds. After decades of Strategic Prognostication, the Emperor's Tarot revealed that the chapter would have to be unshakeable in its devotion, and unrelenting in its war against the Xenos. Thus the Iron Shields were created using the gene-seed of Ferrus Mannus and the Iron Hands Chapter and sent along with an Astartes fleet to help bring order back to the worlds of the Segmentum. As the chapter built up strength, their early assignments were restricted to support roles alongside the Iron Hands and their brother chapter the Red Talons as preparation for autonomous campaigns. After several decades of support roles the Iron Shields were declared ready to undertake their own duties in the Segmentum Tempestus and were deployed on a century long Crusade to engage and destroy all Xenos encountered. Segmentum Tempestus Over the course of the next few centuries the Iron Shields were without a homeworld. Instead the Iron shields struck against Xenos forces from their battlefleet. The Chapter gained a reputation for brutal force, often flattening battlefields with orbital strikes and levelling cities to exterminate the enemy. Towards the end of the Millennia continued their crusade against Ork incursions into the North of the Segmentum trying to maintain a secure cordon on the border with the Segmentum Solar. The Nova Terra Interregnum The Iron Shields were part of the vast Imperial forces assigned to fight against the Nova Terran forces in the Interregnum Civil War throughout M35 and were part of the brutal wars known as the Cataclysm of Souls. The Oriel V Xenocide The Iron Shields are directed to the Oriel system where after centuries cut off from Imperial space it had fallen under the control of a Xenos empire no longer found in Imperial records. After the end of the warp storms a Rogue Trader discovered evidence of dangerous weapons research. The Iron Shields are called into destroy the installations and prepare the world for Imperial compliance. After lightning strikes against the Xenos installations Captain Eadward Iustus discovers a cache of STCs and clear evidence that the human population of Oriel V has been enslaved. In response Chapter Master Carleman Forge orders a Xenocide of the enemy population. When the the STCs are handed over to the Techmarines of the chapter, they are found to be unusable. The War for Malverus In M37 the Iron Shields were alerted to a Biel-Tan invasion of the planet of Malverus. At the time considered a backwater at the outer reaches of Imperial power, the Iron Shields raced to liberate the planet. When the they found that the planetary governer had surrendered, they unleashed fiery retribution on Malverus before engaging in a three year war against the Biel-Tan. When an Ork Waagh! descended upon the planet an ill-advised alliance with the Eldar forestalled the greenskin tide, but at the cost of betrayal - when the dust had settled on Malverus, the Iron Shields had lost much of their number, Chapter Master included. It would become their defining action. Beliefs and Reputation When the creation of the Iron Shields was approved by the High Lords of Terra it was said that the Iron Hands geneseed, rarely used, was chosen for their harsh and uncompromising nature. So it was with the Iron Shields, who quickly gained a reputation for devotion to the Emperor, and ferocity to his enemies. The Iron Shields are also renowned for their disdain towards those outside of the Adeptus Astartes. This was most famously seen at the Battle of Malverus when the civilian population under Biel-Tan rule was subjected to a vast planetary bombardment prior to landing, and the civilian government executed after landfall. In all campaigns, the Iron Shields have given scant regard for civilian or non-Astartes casualties. Conversely the Iron Shields are famed for their exceptionally strong ties among battle brothers. The chapter as a whole is characterised by the total trust among the Astartes who spend much of their time outside of war in training or devotional duties together in the Basilica Ferrax. Initiates are taught that they can only ever rely upon their battle brothers, and that outside of the Adeptus Astartes and their God-like Emperor exist only shades of incompetence or evil. Unlike their progenitor chapter the Iron Hands, the Iron Shields have tried set themselves apart from the ideal of machinery and the disdain for flesh, believing that Ferrus Mannus had proclaimed that they should trust in the strength of their being rather than attempting to improve upon the Emperor's work. However, there are some who believe that the transition from flesh to machine is a necessity for their continued service to the Emperor, and the issue has never fully been resolved. This argument has created a situation where very few Astartes will part with a healthy limb, but all believe internment in a Dreadnought sarcophagus to be the highest honour given to an Astartes. Over the millennia since its founding, the Iron Shields have formed a bulwark against the Xenos enemies in the Dacorian sector. They have spent many centuries fighting the Ork menace, for whom the chapter maintains a constant watch. But they also count among their enemies the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan, Dark Eldar Corsairs, and their own mortal foes, the Biel-Tan Eldar. Geneseed The Iron Shields are one of the rare successor chapters to the Iron Hands. While there has never been a physical flaw found in their geneseed, it is often debated as to whether their hatred of weakness is a product of their genetics or of chapter culture. Further, like the Iron Hands, if the Inquisition have concerns, they have yet to come to light for the Iron Shields remain unmolested. Organisation The Chapter The Iron Shields follow the tenets of the Codex Astartes closely, but often link Battle and Reserve Companies in operations. The most famous of which is the partnership between the 3rd and 8th Companies which are often deployed as rapid aerial strike forces. Outside of battle the chapter functions under the direct control of the Chapter Master who directs the strategic operations of the companies either from the Basilica Ferrax or from the flagship the Vengeance of Silvanus. The Chapter Master is assisted by a Librarius Conclave, his Honour Guard, and his equerries. Recruitment No aspirants are taken from Malverus but rather from the Sector at large, the chapter regularly campaigns to maintain peace and accept worthy candidates for the trials on Malverus. Different companies will often have a core set of worlds they prefer to recruit from, 5th Company for example recruited exclusively from the Haxan system after their noted actions in the crusades there. Due the the diversity of Iron Shields recruiting worlds their methods of choosing aspirants varies from system to system. In some primitive planets the Iron Shields have cultivated a presence as sky gods to whom able children are sacrificed, in other more civilised worlds, the children are taken as tithe. At Malverus the aspirants are cast out into the wilderness with a small knife. After a week the survivors are retrieved and tasked with defeating an Astartes. How they deal with the impossible task dictates whether they are taken in. It is only after these trials that aspirants are genetically tested and if able, pass to the next stage. Some failed aspirants are retained as Chapter serfs, however most are cast out to live among the general populace of Malverus and work to satisfy the needs of the Basilica Ferrax. Chapter Disposition in M41 Headquarters Companies of the Iron Shields The Iron Shields Fleet Notable Members - Living Chapter Master Mabius Hafoc Born on the Feral World of Asgerd VII, one of the main recruitment centres of the Chapter, Mabius was taken as an aspirant by the 3rd Company of the Iron Shields. During this time much of the sector was under constant threat of warp storms and many of his early actions were localised campaigns. His promotion to Captaincy of 3rd Company came during the Exterminatus of the Xenophiles on Terentia X taking over from his deceased Captain Helmgar Thrax. As Chapter Master Mabius continued the Iron Shields wars against the Xenos with traditional fury in his early years. In battle he carried the artificer armour of Caesarion and the relic war axe, Bloodfell. Renowned as a great warrior at his elevation, he now spends much of his time searching for the lost history of his chapter, determined to recover the records and relics of Carleman Forge. Captain Eadulf Grey A close contemporary of Chapter Master Mabius, Eadulf Grey was the direct successor to Mabius when he was elected as Chapter Master after the death of Runhard. As the Captain of the 3rd Company he is a master of aerial assault, and regularly utilises a combination of heavy fixed firepower and close frontal assault by drop pod. A master of arms, he nonetheless is often seen directing the orchestration of the 3rd Company. Notable Members - Dreadnoughts Ancient Apostolion The oldest remaining Astartes of the Iron Shields chapter. Apostolion was an aspirant during the leadership of Carleman Forge, the first Chapter Master. He was a revered veteran by the time of the Malverus war and was the Veteran Sergeant of the 3rd Company. Near the end of the Malverus war Apostolion was greviously wounded by the Eldar betrayal and was blessed with the Leviathan Dreadnought armour recovered from the planet. From that day Apostolion has continued to fight alongside his battle brothers and is renowned for his ferocity which has remained undimmed by the millenia, his hatred of the Eldar is undying. Ancient Hathrus Hathrus was a veteran of the 1st Company under Chapter Master Caesarion and witnessed his master's fall against the Eldar. Hathrus had fought countless battles when he fell against the Word Bearers aboard the Space Hulk The Sanction of Ruin. In recognition of his limitless courage he was blessed with Dreadnought armour in 482.M38. He has since then become a mighty paragon of close combat in his confinement often forcing his way through the enemy lines to extinguish their commanders and has been responsible for the deaths of countless Ork warbosses and other Xenos. Quotations Category:Space Marines Category:8th Founding Category:Iron Hands Successors Category:Space Marine Chapters